CAMBODIA TO VIETNAM

Saying farewell to our wonderful hosts at Memoir d'hotel in Siem Reap we took a short taxi ride compliments of the hotel to the beautiful airport there where Gary, unfortunately, had a small tool in his manicure set confiscated. It had travelled with us all the way from NZ with no problem but here it was a definite, finger wag "no, no Mr Gary". Settling onto the plane, which was brand new, we were happy and content in the knowledge that our entry into Vietnam would be straightforward as we had, after all, arranged and paid for our visas in advance - to be collected at the airport. Sweet! The flight was unremarkable and we went straight to the visa collection station to yes  - pick up our visas and good we were the first ones there in this amazing race. Waiting at the counter with our documents and a Vietnamese young lady on the other side of the glass we were totally ignored for a full 5 minutes as the queue backed up behind us. FInally looking up at us she took our passports and our letter and receipt and threw 2 forms at us. "Fill out, fill out". Trying to explain we had already organised our visas and they were there just for us to pick up was like talking to a brick wall so we duely accepted the forms and refilled them - being the good kiwis we are. Returning to the desk, back of the queue this time, we handed over our forms and waited along with many others. Next thing our names are called in Vietnamese English and we rush to the desk - once again the first in the amazing race. Low and behold our passports are on the other side of the window laid out in front of HER. "45US$ each" she says. "No, No" I say, "we have already paid for our visas"!!!! "No, no" she says,"only letter of recommendation. 45$US or no passport". She slaps the letter down in front of me and says "go call them then and check" and turns her back on me. There is no way she is going to talk with me any more. I keep saying "Excuse me" and "hello" but she refuses to turn round. By this time everyones attention has been captivated as they realise they are in the same boat as us and a flurry to the ATM ensues. Seeing our dilemma a very nice Vietnamese immigration man approaches, explains why we still need to pay our $90US - to get our visas and passports back - so, like all the others, we pay up and once more put it down to experience. Were we the victims of another scam - we are still unsure? Passing through more surly officials, not very welcoming into Vietnam - we finally are spewed out at the other end with our baggage intact to see a welcoming sign - Mr Garry Scott. Yes, our driver is waiting for us to take us to our hotel in Saigon. Something has finally worked! So begins our introduction to the madness of roads in Vietnam and the alarmingly insane driving of the Vietnamese people. The abundance of scooters shooting every which way, the apparant lack of road rules,  the zebra crossings that mean nothing, the cars, the cyclos, the everything. It is fast, noisy and hectic but it works!!!!! Next blog HCMC and our antics there. X

Siem Reap, Ankor Wat and Indiana Jones

Siem Reap and Ankor Wat

Our border crossing was an eye opener to the openly corrupt practices to be found in Asia. This was behind us now as we were treated to the best service we have had anywhere in Asia (besides Baan Pictory) Welcome drinks were provided while we checked in and we were taken to our second floor room. It was as clean as a whistle and had a really comfy bed. All of the staff acknowledged us every time we passed and had something to say in English.. ie ‘where do you come from sir?’ ‘did you enjoy your trip’ dah de dah . It was obvious they were keen to interact and to try out their English skills. As per usual we unpacked a bit and went out on the town to get orientated. We were right in the main street, in this posh looking but within budget hotel, and outside was chaos. People, cars, motorbikes and cyclos, all asking us if we wanted a ride. Our preference has always been to walk so we politely refused and walked on the road as the footpaths were blocked by cars, motorbikes, people and cyclos. We quickly found the night market and lots of restaurants and a street called ‘pub street’. This is the first time we have seen such a lot of European tourists, and now lots of Russian travellers. They are like a kid with a new toy now they have discovered how good capitalism is. Hasn’t changed their demeanour though, grumpy lot. Bar staff were outside touting for business as we read every menu on the street before deciding where to eat. 2 for one cocktails did the trick. We’ll eat here she says. J  After the meal we went into the night market area and met two lovely girls who looked about 11, who were trying to sell us jewellery. One had excellent English and we found out she was 16 and had to leave school as her parents couldn’t afford to pay. She worked in this shop until 11pm then slept in a cupboard on a mattress, wearing layers of clothes to protect from the mosquitos, until daylight when she biked home. She got commission on any sale. Yeah, you got it… we fell for the sob story and paid $5 for a $2 pair of earrings. She was so cute though.

Next morning we had a late breakfast, which was awesome and free, and walked for an hour or two to see the town. Too hot to continue we stopped for an iced coffee, one of Caths new craves, and then flagged down a tuk-tuk driver to give us a city tour. He convinced us to visit the museum so we spent half an hour or so there and he dropped us back at the hotel. We had a swim in the pool and went out for dinner again. I like this place. It has a nice feel about it, a vibrancy not seen in many places, and the night lights are almost like xmas. Next day we booked a tour to the floating villages. Only three of us in a mini van plus a guide and driver. The other chap was a nice young Korean bloke who was helping to provide water to outlying villages via an NGO organisation. You will need to see the pictures to see the state these people in the floating villages live in. They move houses in the dry season by towing them and anchoring them in the huge 300km long lake. The Vietnamese and the Cambodians have separate ‘villages’ on the lake complete with shops and schools and even a floating basketball court. In the wet season when the trees were almost under water their houses were tied to the tops.

We left the van and boarded a boat at a ramp where twenty other boats were being boarded. Bloody tourists. We had a boat to ourselves and for this tour the beer and food was included. Our aim was to see the floating villages and see the sunset, have a meal, and return to the van. The trip down river was slow but interesting as all of the local fishermen were returning with their catch in all sorts of craft. Some looked rather unseaworthy. The channel was really low and the deep part was being fought over by the coming and going boats, some actually touching our boat as they went past. Lots got stuck on the mud, including us, and the guide would push us off with a pole like in Venice, or climb over and manually shove the boat off. It was only knee deep. The engine had a long shaft out the back which had the propeller at the end and it entered the water under its own weight. So it would sit on the mud just two or three feet down and churn it up and move us forward. As the water got shallower the prop was half out of the water and sprayed it everywhere and was therefore less effective in propelling us forward. I thought one of our jet boats would change their lives forever, but then I figured it would just suck up the mud and stop, so that wouldn’t work. As we exited the channel and made our way slowly out to the villages we were approached by Vietnamese refugees in small boats which had a small child on board that had a huge snake wrapped around its neck. Take a picture and pay a US$.... yeah right. That’s begging, my camera can take pictures by voice command so I got my pictures all right. The look in their eyes as they asked for money was really haunting. A few little kids even came out to us in round wash basins, coracles? We saw a crocodile farm and saw a demonstration of the fish catching methods used and the history of the lake and how it benefits the Mekong. Next stop was a floating school/orphanage. The kids were all in uniform and seemed happy to be educated. None of them had parents or family, mostly rounded up as street kids. We then churned our way through the mud to the floating restaurant and had a nice meal on the deck as the sun went down. Fabulous photo opportunity. A few beers later we motored off to find the entrance to the channel and back to the dock. No lights other than a $2 torch and my camera spotlight app. Small boats whizzed past really close and every time I used my light to show our location, millions of bugs immediately flew around my hand. No light, no bugs, where do they come from so quickly? If I shut the phone case I squashed twenty or so each time. A great experience as we finally made it back to the van to be delivered to the hotel.

Next morning we were on another trip. This time to the famous Temples of Ankor Wat.

We were picked up by our guide and a driver for the temple tour. One advantage of having a guide is we were ushered into areas normally off limits to tourists and went in the back way to avoid the crowds. All temples were within a 10 minute car ride of each other and all were different. The major attraction, Ankor Wat, was stunning with heaps of history of occupation and restoration. The most picturesque was the one used in the filming of ‘Tom Raiders’. Words can’t describe what we were looking at. You will need to see the pictures we posted on Fb. It was really hot during the visits and it was nice to get back into an air-conditioned car and a cold bottle of water. We really enjoyed our day which was finished off with a swim and a cocktail and then an evening meal on ‘pub street’.

Next day we flew to Saigon………..

From Chiang Mai to Bangkok and overland to Cambodia.

From Chiang Mai we took a quick flight to Bangkok for an overnight stay on the outskirts of Bangkok City and close to the Moh Chit bus station where we had our bus booked to Siem Reap Cambodia. A quick early morning taxi ride and all was falling beautifully into place as we arrived in perfect time to locate our bus bay and wait. Moh Chit is a huge bus station, modernized since I was there in 2006, on many levels. Coming out of the lift on our level towing our bags, we both turned around to find the whole usually heaving mass of people completely at a standstill and absolutely silent whilst the national anthem was playing. As soon as it finished everyone once again became animated. Not a single person dId not honour the king. So, bus arrives, baggage is stowed, and we all jump on. A few hours down the track and the bus stops. Everybody off please need to change buses!!!!!!! Oh no please not another nightmare starting. Doing as we are told Gary went in search of our stowed bags -gone!!!!!!! Frantically searching he finally found them, not so neatly stowed but at least safe, on the new bus. Jumping on board all those going to Siem Reap were given a bottle of water and a takeaway cooked lunch - not bad either - and we continued our journey for about 5 mins before pulling into a carpark behind an official looking building. Everybody off please, quickly quickly, visas here, visas here. Off we get with passports etc, enter the building, rush rush, grab forms to fill out, Gary asks how much? and he quickly realises it is a scam. Trying to make others understand it is a scam, they are not at the border where we all expect to get our visas and they are paying double what they need to, Gary is surrounded by the scammers. I leave thinking Gary is following but he is not. Returning it is hard to see him amongst the scammers and also people trying to find out what the commotion is about and what Gary is trying to tell them, so I call to him to leave as I am concerned it all might escalate. One person took his advice and left with us and not more than 5 mins later we were at the border getting a regulation visa for half the price! However I have to say this was not before I witnessed money being exchanged between the driver and the scammers at the side of the bus. Even at the border the corruption was rife and saw much money being exchanged and pocketed by the border guards or immigration officers. All in all not too bad for us and after walkIng across the brIdge/border we reconnected with our bus on the Cambodian side. Many hours later we arrived in Siem Reap at the bus station where our bags were offloaded, a tuk tuk was arranged to take us to our hotel for only 1USD, and where we felt at last free of corrupt influences. Memoir d'angkor was the name of our hotel which scored itself a perfect 10 for us. More about that in the next blog. Slowly catching up but still a little behind. We are wondering how we ever had the time to work, do housework, laundry etc etc. Our days are full of everything else like having fun, meetIng new people and exploring all these amazing places we keep finding. The blog is suffering slightly but one day we will catch up - promise!  

Chiang Mai

Arriving in Chiang mai at night  and quIte late we hired a tuk tuk to take us to our accommodation. The drIver had hIs small daughter wIth hIm who was obvIouusly very tIred and grumpy - she would have been about 7. Gary tried to interact with her, which made her cry and every now and then she would turn around and glare at Gary really gIvIng hIm the evIl eye. The driver eventually found the guest house tucked away down a narrow Soi (street) and we tumbled out tired and exhausted apologizing for being so late. The accommodation looked really cute but the lady behind the desk wasn't, she was not impressed that we had not phoned and she made that quite clear to us. The room was impressively big, the bed was nice and soft (Asian beds are extremely hard) and once again we breathed that sigh of relief that has become all to familiar us, we had booked an ok place. We needed some food as we had had nothing all day so set out to find somewhere close. Stumbling across a French sounding place which sold local food and also arranged tours we sat down for a meal. Shortly after getting our drinks and having ordered our food a violent argument broke out between the Asian and European owners. Subsequently our food took ages to arrive with huge "sorry, sorry, so sorry" from the distressed waitress. The next day the restaurant was all closed down. So back to our room for a shower and a good night's sleep. That's when we notice the shower is held up with a green plastic bag, the light switch is hanging off the wall and the place is filthy and overrun by cats. We can stick out 2 nights then find somewhere else. Our morning wake up came initially with a lot of noise we couldn't fathom like chopping of something plus the singing of children a little later. We found out later we had a "chop chop chicken" diner right behind our room whIch opened at 6am and an elementary school to the side of us. Next day we spent looking for new accommodation, exploring the old city of Chiang Mai as we were wIthIn the old cIty walls, booking a tour with a travel company who also booked our future flight to Bangkok and our bus to Siem reap. They were amazing and spent a lot of time going through various options with us in a very professional manner. Here were people we could trust. Next day we moved to our new accommodation in Soi 5 which was a large, airconditioned room, very basic but clean, in a cute little guesthouse fronted by a Thai man who constantly cracked jokes. The drawback was it was on the top floor - number 4 - with no lift. Lugging our cases up 4 floors was no mean feat for Gary but bless him he made it and I did carry all the others!!!!! Opening the bathroom door we were confronted with a big notice above the sink - RUN WATER FOR 1 MINUTE TO ELIMINATE ODOUR and it was definitely necessary each time. Oh well no sweat we have to learn to live within our budget. Spent the rest of the day exploring Chiang Mai again on foot, it is a huge city with so much to see and do, but the day was very hot and debilitating so after covering a few kilometres and rehydrating with an iced coffee we took a tuk tuk to the day market. An Indian meal on the way home, an opportunistic haircut for me and a massage for Gary whIlst he waIted completed a very tIrIng day. Returning to our accommodation we dragged ourselves up the four flights, ran the water for 1 minute whilst we waited outside the bathroom, had a shower each and rolled into bed - and nearly rolled directly out the other side!!!!! The bed was like a plank, in fact I am sure that is what it was. It had no movement in it at all and we might just as well have been sleeping on the floor. Oh well, you know, we have to live within our budget. I can tell you when we left that place we were exhausted through lack of sleep but the breakfasts were good!!!!!!!! Not having got to Pai or ChIang Rai, Laos or Burma, running out of time believe it or not, we decided to take a day trip to see 3 out of the 4. Well what a magic day that was. We had the most fabulous female guide, lighthearted, fun, happy, English speaking and outgoing - she made the trip and the day. Yes we went to the Golden Triangle where Burma, Thailand and Laos all cojoin which meant I at last got my trip on the Meekong river. We sampled Tiger Penis whisky amongst other things, shelled out 60 baht to set foot in Laos and once again gorked at Burma - once again so close but not achievable. We visited hot pools, too hot to dip your feet in and hot enough to boil an egg. The most amazing, modern White Temple in Chiang Rai - absolutely beUtIful to behold as the sun makes it glitter. We visited a village of Long Neck women where I finally bought somethIng, a scarf in the hope that somewhere along the line all monies received may improve their lot A vIsIt to the border at Mae SaI was our next and last stop. ThIs Is a smaller border than at Mae Sot but still no luck in even getting across the bridge. We gave up at this point and decided we had had enough of Thailand and it was time to move on to Cambodia. We have enjoyed Thailand a lot, have not seen all the places we wanted to see so undoubtedly we will return. We have had high points and low points throughout our journey and have survived them all. We have met some amazing people along the way too and our experiences will stay as memories for ever. We fly to Bangkok and after an overnight stay bus out to Cambodia picking up a visa at the border. Another story in the telling. Nite all sleep tight

From Mae Sot to Mae Sarieng and on to Chiang Mai

From Mae Sot to Mae Seriang and on to Chiang Mai

After extending our stay in Mae Sot for as long as we could, we decided to follow the Burmese border right up to Mae Seriang. The only way to do this is by local buses called Song Tauw. It is a ute with a longer than usual back with a bench seat down either side and a roof on the top. There are some pretty modern ones like Toyota Hilux or Mazda twin cabs, and there are some pretty grotty ones which belch smoke and have no power to get up hills. One chap told me his one had done 2 million km. The sides and back are open, and people wait by the road and flag one down and climb on. I say climb on, as mostly the insides are full and you just cling on the back. They would comfortably seat 10 inside.

We had been to the bus station the day before and sorted out what we had to do. The price was 200 baht each for a six hour trip, no booking just turn up and hop on, then pay the driver. Easy. The hotel gave us a ride with our bags on the day of departure and we found the song tauw ready and waiting. Well it was there and 6 monkettes and a couple of ladies were in it but it was not due to leave for 45 minutes. Our bags were thrown on the roof and covered over and we piled in and sat on a thinly padded seat to wait. The monkettes (trainee monks of between 9 and 12 years old) were dressed in an orange sheet and flip-flops, and looked us up and down, but said nothing. They got a bit animated later, but 90% of the time they either looked miserable or slept. More people got on as the departure time got closer and we soon had about 16 on board. We had the two rear seats on the left side but poor Cathie was soon to be squashed up with a bloke who used her to prop himself up while he slept. In the heat it made her really sweat, but she would not give her ground and kept pushing back at every opportunity. Like on a downhill slope where we all slipped forward.

The trip was to be 5 or 6 hours, and as I said, it was following the Burmese border most of the way. We went through some nice scenery and jungle areas and rice fields getting prepared for planting when the monsoons come in June. Slash and burn is the method they use so the sky is just a smoke haze, and fresh fires are all along the road. After about an hour and a half we had picked up another 8 people. They were all hanging on the back behind me so my rearward view was blocked and sweaty armpits brushed my nose as we all claimed a piece of the rail to hang on to. The floor inside was also filled up with bags of food from the market, blocks of ice in sacks, and an old old lady with no teeth chewing beetle nuts squatting at Cathies feet. Well squatting on Cathies feet initially, and she was probably only 65. By now we were a contingent of 24 on/in the back of a ute, which had the power of a Morris Minor, and slowly edging our way closer to Maeseriang. This part of the trip was interrupted by stops by border police checking ID’s of Burmese people. We were passing a huge refugee camp, which Cathie had visited a few years ago, and some residents had been here for over 20 years. I guess the situation had eased for them as they seemed to be able to move around the countryside a bit. There were some on the truck with us and if they did not have a pass they simple placed some money in the policemans hand. On one occasion a lady, who had already paid off two police at earlier checks, was taken from the truck and behind a hut. She had tried to pass him money but he stopped her and asked her to come with him. She didn’t seem perturbed and returned a minute later. We figured the cop didn’t want to be seen taking a bribe so took her behind the hut to do it. Corruption is rife.

Our travelling companions did not communicate with us at all, nor gave eye contact. The number fluctuated as some got off and more got on along the road. We dropped some off in really remote places and the 6 monkettes got off in a village on the top of a hill. Sometimes we detoured to drop people off in their village, so we got to see more of the Thai lifestyle.

The time passed and soon we were the only original passengers left who went the whole journey. It was hot, windy, a bit tedious and at the same time very interesting. I wouldn’t have missed it for quids. On arrival at Mae Seriang we found that there were no taxis, only motorcycle taxis and we refused to take our big bags on the back of those bikes. I high-tailed it up the road to find our accommodation…. First left then first right, can’t miss it! Hmmmm, missed the first left, a small non-descript lane which didn’t even resemble a road. That’s my excuse. But it did have a sign pointing to our hotel. J By the time I found it I was a pool of sweat and here was Cathie standing outside. She had conned the song tauw driver to give her and the bags a lift. Good on ya girl! Only trouble was the hotel couldn’t find our booking. Got it sorted and settled into our room at the Good View Guest House.

Nice view all right. Overlooking a muddy creek. Our room was upstairs from reception and had a balcony to sit out on for a beer, a fridge for the beer, and a shop 2 minutes away that sold beer. This will do.

This is a very small town and before we had a meal we walked around most of it and found where the markets were, where to get iced coffee and 43 baht large Chang beer. While we were in the restaurant overlooking the creek, there was an almighty thunder and lightning storm. Constant flashes of light followed by huge claps of thunder and then down came the rain. I have never seen anything as heavy before. The covers were lowered to stop the rain coming in but it still found holes in the roof. The noise was so loud we had to yell to be heard, it was fantastic! Cathie wasn’t so fussed and sat with her hands covering her ears, as did some of the staff. It had eased enough for us to walk home and we were soon snuggled up in bed watching the storm move further away. The next morning our wee creek was now a fully-fledged river, much better to look at. The fishermen thought so too as they were out in force throwing nets to trap the fish which had been washed down with the flood.

We borrowed two push-bikes for the day and explored further afield. We went to a Karen native village by the river which dated back 200 years, but now it has sealed roads, sky TV and Toyota twin cab utes. Not all that impressive. Talked with a couple of fishermen by a weir who told us we were going the wrong way to get back to town, so we had to back-track. Stopped at a man-made lake and watched a cat fishing competition and then home to cool off with the aircon. Whew it is hard biking in 37deg.  

Needed to organise a way out of here for tomorrow, so after much discussion about where we should go next, we opted to catch a van/bus/bike/plane? to Chiang Mai.   At the bus depot we encountered the grumpiest, most unhelpful and ignorant lady we have ever met. She ignored us, she never smiled, and when we got her attention, she just said “all mini vans full have to go on bus!” We found out when the aircon bus leaves (non aircon is cheaper but crowded and hot we heard) and that we pay on board. Ok fine we can do this.

 Out for a meal in an empty restaurant then back to pack for the bus trip to Chiang Mai. Next morning we got a ride with our bags to the station… remember there are no taxis. Cathie tried to see if the mini van had some cancellations so we could have a faster trip. Once again the woman ignored her and just talked on her mobile phone until another customer came along and she dealt with them. Cathie interrupted but the woman just said “full, full”. Talk about ignorant. She came on the bus to collect the money later on and laughed with the driver about us. We had a strategy for getting on the bus. I would tend to the bags and Cathie would get on and claim the seats. She was number two at the door but was almost squeezed out by the cauliflower effect of people cramming in from both sides. She steadfastly held her ground by holding on to both handles beside the steps and clambered on. When I managed to get on here she was smiling from the two front seats behind the driver. Good skills. We were the only foreigners on board. Now people came from everywhere and passed us going to the back of the bus. The seats filled up quickly and several had to stand in the aisle. So many came on board I thought they had to be getting out the back door and coming round again! The ticket collector came on board, with the ignorant one, collected the money and it took so long we were sweltering in this ‘air-conditioned bus’. The engine was running but no air was flowing. Then more people arrived and were let on to sit where they could. Who cares about comfort and safety when you can take more money? The doors just closed and we were off on an epic 6 hour journey that turned into 8. I counted 9 people in front of us including the driver, and a guy was standing next to me leaning his backside on my shoulder! The bus held 40 people but I reckon there were at least 60 on board. As we had primo seats it was not too bad a journey, we had snacks and water and slept a bit. I looked at the dashboard and saw that none of the gauges were working, not the fuel gauge, the rev counter or speedo, or the indicator lights, the oil pressure one was working though. The bus was really slow on the hills, but the scenery was nice and we were in no hurry. Some people got dropped off along the way and the poor front floor people finally had a seat. We arrived at the bus station about 9.00 and when the passengers got off it seemed like 100 passed my seat. I had spent 8 hours on a bus with these people and I hadn’t seen them before.

Now let’s get a Tuk-tuk and find our hotel.

Beautiful Mae Sot

Mae Sot how we love thee! Having travelled to Mae Sot in 2006 I fell in love with this amazing township even then and it was important to me to bring Gary here hoping that he might feel the same way. Did he..............? Our first impressions were not that great as we arrived at our prebooked destination slightly stressed after the journey to find we had booked a little hut, next to a small rubbish dump, with insufficient room to even open our packs. Incidentally Mae Sot is extremely hot and this hut was red hot. A few gesticulations, phone calls, scratching of heads and of course unintelligible words we paid extra for a much bigger, cooler room in the main house up a steep flight of stairs. It was an old style Thai house, lots of wood and heavy dark furniture but it had just been refurbished and was all we needed. At 700baht a night it was a steal and with breakfast too. So our unpack starts and we make ourselves comfortable. Oh the bathroom calls............open the door which rockets off it's hinges, one hinge and all it's screws crashed onto the new tile floor and I was left holding this really heavy teak door. OMG this is typical Thailand - absolutely no maintenance and no way Gary can fix it. Just be quiet, push the screws back through the hinge, balance the door and under no circumstances close it!!!!!!! OK. Long story short we did find another hotel that night, much closer to the township, and broke the news to our current hosts on our return. From our new hotel we hired two pushbikes, those too were badly in need of maintenance, and went in search of the Ban Thai, the questhouse I had stayed in on my previous visit. Mae Sot has grown a lot but there were some landmarks I remembered and low and behold I found it - squished between numerous new buildings. Thanh the manager was still there and it was nice to sit down and have a chat with him and for him to meet Gary. On our bikes again and it was then we discovered iced coffee which is made with strong coffee and carnation condensed milk poured over ice. No sugar but a little evaporated milk on the top - heaven. A Thai massage was our next treat for an hour. Firstly we had to change into our judo shirt and trousers though and we were then taken up all these stairs to the very top story where our muscles were almost pulled from our bones! I loved it but Gary..............still not as good as Eleni's was his answer. Gee Eleni you have set a high bench mark! The fresh food market is a must to visit in Mae Sot. There are bugs, crickets, frogs, birds, maggots, baby turtles, lIve fish, worms, grubs, fresh fruit and vegetables all waiting to be taken home and eaten. We settled for a nice juicy pineapple, which the lady kindly cut up for us, parked our bikes, sat on a step eating it and watching the world of Mae Sot go by. It is such a relaxing place to be. Whizzing round town which now has a one way system we invariably got lost but that was good. We would find ourselves in all different areas of the town, seeing things and interacting with people which would otherwise not have happened. If you are a Facebook friend of ours you will have seen photos of Gary with all his fans and friends taken in Mae Sot. Wots of course are in abundance in Mae Sot but alas we did not visit too many there were more important things to do. Such as a trip to the border between Mae Sot and Myanmar. We wanted to include Burma in our trip but it is still a very hard country to enter and stay in. Going in overland for more than a visa run is not allowed and the border guards can be very edgy upholding the rules as Gary found out. Now his lack of hearing in one ear and loss of sight in one eye definitely didn't help but when one unwittingly walks through the security booths and does not respond when being yelled at by several male and female border guards there is extreme reason to worry - especially when they are carrying machine guns!!!!!! The international IncIdent was thankfully averted when Gary finally heard my screams or their commands and casually strolled back as though nothing was amiss. "Naughty Mr Gary" was the comment. As a little aside I do need to mention here that when I visited this border in 2006 machine gun fire was actually heard. This is a border with no man's land in between where the dIsplaced Burmese have built shacks to live in on the river bed, where they have built high platforms behind coIled, razor wire to sell cigarettes, viagra and steroids duty free to the Thais through the fenceline. This is where soldiers with machine guns patrol. This is a sad, sad place. We took a tuk tuk here and he waited whilst we viewed this god forsaken area, where there is also a thriving market on the Thai side, then he took us home to our aIr conditioned room and our comfortable bed. We bought most of our food from street stalls here as there was an amazing gathering of hawkers not 2 mins walk away which was sufficient and delicious. Fried chicken, noodles, rice sausages, stuffed roti, onion rings just for starters. One thing for sure is that we are not starving. Next stop the Gibbon sanctuary one and a half hours out of Mae Sot by red Songtauw. Dropped in the middle of nowhere, literally, we started up this hill eventually coming to the gate with a big CLOSED sign on it. Looking at each other we both said "bugger that" opened the gate and marched on in. Locating a very hostile lady who was in the middle of her housework, we explained we had come all the way from Mae Sot and would it be possible to look around please. Very reluctantly she agreed and after a while she rematerialised and started what was obviously going to be a very, very hasty routemarch tour of the sanctuary. Stopping to ask interesting and knowledgeable questions of her she quickly thawed, became more animated and the day turned out to be one of our best experiences. The gibbons have all been saved in one way or another - a small baby whose mother has been hunted and killed; once cute home kept baby gibbons who have grown up and are no longer cute; injured gibbons whose human owners discard them and so on and so on. These gIbbons are really well looked after here but the sanctuary is not supported financially and relies on donations to survive. It is growing rapidly and new cages need to be built as more and more gibbons and now 2 bears are brought to them to be looked after. In the end we spent hours there, helping to prepare the gibbons food, chopping up fruit and veges for them and then helping to feed them too. It was so close up and personal and after leaving a healthy donation ourselves we left the sanctuary to wait on the side of the road in the blazing heat for a return red songtauw. We felt good and happy that in a small way we had contributed something. Our last day in Mae Sot we decided to explore by foot. Walking along a riverbank we came across a man fishing with a rifle????? Ingenious. Underneath this rifle was a bicycle pump and inside was a nail attached to fishing line which then was attached to the barrel. Get it? Yes......ingenious eh? Well.....here we go.......Gary being Gary he had to have a go!  "over there, over there" came the cry from the fisherman, BANG goes the gun. The line goes taut, the fisherman pulls and Gary has "nailed" a rather large branch. Big laughs all round as the fisherman tries and finally succeeds in getting his nail and line back, hops on his bike and rides off into the sunset. Oops. So do you think Gary loves Mae Sot as much as I do? Yes of course he does. No one can come to Mae Sot and not be spellbound. It is not a tourist town at all, in fact we saw no other Europeans here. It is a place to kick back and smell the roses and we did just that. We also had lots of fun and of course that is what this trip is all about and.......we dIscovered Iced coffee ThaI style. Cheers everyone. Love to all, think of everyone heaps. Xx

The Nightmare Journey

The Journey to Mae Sot……

 

As I said, it was difficult to get out of Kanchanaburi without going all the way back to Bangkok or enduring a mini-van journey with 14 other travellers, and all of their luggage, in a 12 seater. Similar to our trip from Malaysia to Thailand. We could have taken a local bus and changed in somewhere or other as well, but we decided to splash out on a car and driver!

The hotel proprietor organised it all and we settled on a price. Too bloody expensive but we had no choice if we wanted a door to door service. The night before we were to leave a chap arrived to collect the money. I said “no way mate, we don’t pay for a service until we get it, but I will pay a deposit in good faith”. He wanted 50% but he got 30%. Off he went and I said “see you tomorrow at 8.30am.”

Well at 8.00am this brand new Toyota pulled up while we were still having breakfast and an old guy and his wife loitered about until we finished. This was a completely different guy from the night before. Seemed friendly enough so off we went. He had only had the car three weeks and was obviously being cautious with it. Their English was as bad as our Thai, so silence reigned. It didn’t take long before I realised that he had not driven an automatic before. What a terrible driver he turned out to be. I won’t give you a blow by blow of the entire 6 hour journey, but it was an horrendous trip, both for the driving style and the dangerous situation he put us in. I quite seriously wanted to make him stop and let me drive. He would accelerate for about 5 seconds and then slacken off, even on the flat and the hills. This gave us a surging sensation and was bloody annoying. The rev counter was going from 3000 to 3500 every few seconds. He pulled into every service station that had LPG and topped up each time,,, 150baht? $6.00. Just in case he ran out I suppose. When this happened he powered down all of the windows and the 40deg heat flooded in. He must have read somewhere that is what you have to do. Didn’t turn off the engine though. Now we came to some pretty steep hills ….a bit like Takaka hill in Nelson, and he was still doing the surging thing and getting slower and slower. He pulled over on a bend with 5 cars behind him and locked it in 2^nd gear. Must have read somewhere that is what you have to do. Pulled away and revved the life out of the engine to keep ahead of the ‘normal’ drivers who couldn’t pass as the road was steep, winding and narrow. Still doing the surging thing though. There were lots of trucks on the road which could only go slow and with few passing lanes the Thais generally pass anywhere. Undertaking, overtaking on a bend, or on a crest of a hill, and mostly they get away with it. Our man thought he could do it too, except he would be just alongside a truck (still in second) then he would button off and we would be neck and neck with the truck on the brow of a hill and cars coming the other way. Thais are good at making 3 lanes out of two. Our little sphincters were gripping the seat covers for sure. Over the brow of the hill and we are in the clear, but he won’t put it in drive as there is another hill coming! 110km an hour in second gear! Honestly, Cathie had to physically restrain me from trying to take over. I did manage to say “it works better in drive”. We did 6 hours of this and were pleased to finally arrive at our accommodation. We paid him the balance of the fare, but he was not aware that we paid a deposit and after some confusion we showed him the receipt. He was not happy, looks like someone was ripped off, possibly even us as the price was so high. Ah well we are here now. Look out Mae Sot, here we come. One of Cathies favourite places. In fact I always think of my mum when I hear Mae Sot …..  she was Mae Scott.

Pattaya -  to Kanchanaburi

 

True to form the manager of Baan Pictory Resort organised a taxi to take us into Pattaya to catch the bus to Kanchanaburi. After a hearty breakfast we left the resort with sadness as we had had such a good time here and felt like part of the family. Hugs and ‘cop in car’ (sic) all round we travelled about 40 minutes into the metropolis of Pattaya, a huge city with bars, clubs, restaurants, lady-boys and traffic. Glad we didn’t stay here. Waited at a quaint little bus depot, with a filthy squat toilet, for about 45 minutes and boarded our bus. It looked ok and was a double decker with comfy seats so the journey will be bearable. Only half a dozen other passengers on board. When the bus got going we shuffled forward into the two seats right at the front upstairs with good views of the road ahead. Well Cathie did as she was on the side, my vision was blocked by a 42” TV, but if I reclined my seat, put a rolled up blanket behind my head, twisted to the right with the weight on my right butt-cheek and peered out the top of my glasses, I had about a 50% view of the road. At the first stop, of which there were to be many, the driver came upstairs to give us a bottle of water and on seeing us in the front started to wave his arms about and gabble in Thai. I thought he wanted us to return to the allocated seats, but after some confusion he just wanted Cathie to get out of the front seat. I was able to stay. I readily moved into the right hand seat away from the TV,  put my feet up and wondered why Cathie had to move. My reasoning was that if there was a crash she would be catapulted out the front window, so it was a safety thing. I must have been either capable of surviving the crash or dispensable. A female tourist dying on their roads must be an international incident. Ah bless, that’s nice, not worried about me then? It was to be a few days later that we asked our host what the reason was, and found out that the front seats were reserved for the Monks and they could not sit with a female. Too much temptation? No control? Ah well at least I had a good seat where I could stretch out and put my feet up and actually had a wee snooze. Cathie was fine in the row behind, I heard her clicking away at everything on her camera. There were lots of stops with people getting on and off but no lunch or toilet stops. There was a very wet toilet on board as there was no flush, you had to tip a bucket of water down after your business and at 100kmph on a rough road it was impossible to get it all down the hole. It was hard enough to get your own stuff down the hole! One hand holding on, the other hand holding on to the wall. Don’t know how the ladies managed as it was too wet to sit down.

Arrived Kanchanaburi bus depot late afternoon and were instantly besieged by taxi touts. Agreed 150Bht ( about $6.50) but needed to buy some food first, Cathie was needing sustenance. He waited 15minutes and we piled onto the back of a Song Taow: - a ute with a canopy and bench seats down the side. Six minutes later we were at our accommodation, the Thai Garden Inn. What a let-down after Pictory!. It was a separate cottage in the unkempt grounds down a back lane next to a new restaurant being constructed. They could have warned us. It was tired, dirty, untidy and the room was small but had a balcony to sit out on. Yeah right!  The aircon was not efficient so asked for a fan as well. The outside light didn’t work so they bought along an extension lead and a trouble light. The mozzies ate us alive in the first 5 minutes so didn’t enjoy our beer and didn’t sit out again. I reckon the filters were missing from the aircon unit, as when the bloke next door had a fag outside, it sucked all the smoke into our room just like we were sitting with him! Turned it off and used the fan whenever we smelt it. The other thing was there were cows in the field next door and the aircon sucked in their shitty smell as well! The pool was milky and right next to the cows, so I didn’t even try to have a swim. Good ole Cathie was determined and she went in once. J

Now this sounds pretty awful, as Baan Pictory has spoilt us, but the redeeming factor was the lady owner was so helpful and the food wasn’t too bad, and we only had to suffer it for 3 nights. It is a short 15 minute walk to the bars and restaurants across a bridge.

We came to this area because it is where the Bridge over the River Kwai is. This area has huge history of the second world war, and lots of horrific things happened here. There were POW camps in Kanchanaburi and 120,000 prisoners who were sent here when Singapore fell to the Japanese. Lots of death, starvation and atrocities occurred here. They were used to build a railway from the south of Thailand right up to the border of Burma by pick and shovel, so the Japanese could transport supplies. We went by motorbike and side-car to one of the war museums which had reconstructed a hut from the POW camp with lots of photographs. NZ wasn’t involved here, just Australia, England, Holland and Thailand. And Japan of course.

We walked back to our hotel, about 6km, via the river front where heaps of barges set up like restaurants were moored. You can hire them privately and they are towed by a long tail motorboat down/up the river while you eat. You can take your own food or get them to cook for you and some have loud music blaring or even karaoke. It started to rain so we once again sheltered in a bar/restaurant and had a late lunch. As with our previous places in Thailand, there are a number of fat European men with Thai partners/wives. They look so out of place and it is obvious they had no chance of getting a woman of their own race. Just a total mismatch. However it is the only way the Thai women can get out of the lifestyle they are born into and it is better for them. Just a bit creepy and sad that the men they choose are so old, fat and ugly. Don’t get me wrong, some are awesome partnerships and beneficial to both man and woman and they are well respected and treated, but there are lots that are quite frankly just sickening. Most of the women are quite stunning too.

Next day we had arranged a tour. Picked up at 8.00 and went to see a waterfall with 100’s of other tourists, surprisingly few Europeans and no Russians. Managed to get some good photos though. The railway line built by POW’s came to here and there is a steam train on display on the tracks. Also there were lots of food stalls and souvenir stalls. Next stop was a museum dedicated to the prisoners with lots of photos and video presentations. Quite interesting. Below the museum we trekked 500 meters to walk on the remnants of the track through hellfire pass on the death railway. It is a deep cutting through rock and you can still see the drill marks and some broken drills stuck in the rock, which made the holes for the explosives used for blasting the rock. 1000’s of men died here from exhaustion, starvation and disease or torture. Hard to believe on this nice day in pleasant surroundings. We just missed ANZAC day where 2000 people gathered here at dawn with candles to remember the men who died here. Gallipoli on a smaller scale. It was a hard climb up concrete steps and through bamboo, bush and rocks to follow the path that 1000’s of prisoners did every day to get back to their camp.

One part of the group, a family of 4 from Australia (although she was a Kiwi), went elephant trekking while we visited a hot springs. (we’ve both elephanted before). It was a Saturday and it was jammed. Thai style swimming is done fully clothed. The water was 40deg…hotter than our spa, and who wants to get hot on a stinking hot and humid day? The water was also murky as was the river alongside, which was full of slimy rocks. Cathie dipped her feet in while I held the bags. We had an hour to kill here so we sat on a seat and just watched. I saw a bloke suddenly drop feet first into the hot pool fully clothed and I thought he was going to swim to our side. Instead he dipped down and came up with a little boy and put him on the side. I honestly didn’t see a boy there prior to the man going in so I don’t know how long he had been under. He must have gulped water into his lungs as he was ejecting water for ages and was struggling to breathe. His father held him head down and was patting his back and was looking a bit stressed about it as he carried the boy, who was still struggling to catch a full breath, up to his car.  Cathie was so concerned we packed up and went over the river to see the family and explained that Cathie may be able to help. She listened to his breathing and looked at his vital signs and concluded that he was indeed in a bad way and told them to get him to hospital. They understood and took off immediately to a hospital 20km away. They wanted Cathie to go with them, but that wasn’t possible. We don’t know the outcome, but we hope he is ok.

Next we travelled to a rail bridge built by POW’s and walked over it. More shops and souvenirs. This is where we boarded the steam train for a half an hour journey and  travelled on the line and over bridges built by prisoners. A nice nostalgic experience.

Back in the van, picked up the trekkers and back to see the famous Bridge over the River Kwai. When the movie was made the director got it wrong, there was no bridge over the river Kwai. It was over a different river, so to keep it right they renamed the stretch of river where the bridge stood to Kwai Noi, or new Kwai. What a disappointment! 1000’s of tourists and lots of food stalls and market stalls everywhere. Cathie really thought we had pulled into a bus station as there were so many tour busses there. It was timed of course, to coincide with the second time in a day that the train went over the bridge. 100’s were walking on the bridge and we were half way along when the train hooted and puffed into sight. It only goes 2km an hour over the bridge so people were able to move aside onto platforms built for the purpose. When it passed we completed our double crossing of the famous river Kwai bridge, and went back to the van which took us back to Thai Garden.

We had found this place hard to get out of to get to Mae Sot, our next destination, and unless we wanted to go back to Bangkok and then catch another bus up to Mae Sot, it was going to be expensive. We looked at flying, training, bussing and private car.  The quickest and most expensive was to hire a car and driver…… and as we didn’t want the hassle with all our bags and changing buses and the 12 hours needed we took the car. Not saying how much it cost but it ate up a few days budget in one go.

Next stop Mae Sot.

This turned into a scary journey……

Koh Samui to Pattaya

Our trip from Koh Samui to Pattaya was uneventful - well it was once we were on the plane anyway. I now have an intimate knowledge of Koh Samui airport - which is an extremely beautiful, sImple but pleasant airport which apparently offers free food and drink to waiting passengers - as I paced for what seemed an eternity waiting for Gary to return. Return I hear you asking? Yep return. We had negotiated a free ride to the airport, not an easy task, and were well pleased with ourselves as not much in Koh Samui is free. Armed with all our bags we bundled into the taxi anmd headed for the airport. Once there we bundled out with all our bags and on counting them, yep you got it, we were one short. Back in the car went Gary to the hotel, we were cutting it fine anyway, and after what seemed forever, a lot of angst on my part and a few hundred baht later, he finally returns with that big smile on his face. All ok Cath, no panic! A very quick check in, a lengthy walk to the next building which held the departure lounge, no time to take the weight off before our flight was called. Lucky eh? The flight was 1hour and 30mins max and we were treated to a full light meal, juice, water, coffee or tea. The downsIde was a huge, huge man sIttIng opposIte whose seat constantly groaned backwards one rachet at a tIme and threatened to break under hIs many kIlos. Air NZ eat your heart out though - you have a lot to live up to! On arrival at Pattaya airport, an old airforce base, a shuttle quickly whipped us to our next accommodation. We had booked an Ecoteak room at the Baan Pictory and really had no idea what to expect. What we got was amazing - absolutely everything and everyone was and were truly amazing. We extended our stay here because we were so spoiled. Often we were the only quests but that was fine too because as the resort was placed outside of but relatively close to Pattaya in the countryside, people would come for lunch, drinks or an evening meal so we had the opportunity to meet many people from all walks of life. Our first night there was a Saturday and the evening buffet ThaI meal was free to us as guests. That night we met some very wealthy European and Thai people, including the mother of Miss Universe ? 2002  plus a famous Thai tenor and the food tastes were out of thIs world. This was also the night we had our first glass of white wine since leaving Australia - a huge full glass for only $3.70NZ. Breakfast here was another experience. We were surrounded by beautiful, archItecturally designed buildings filled with the most beautiful furniture and the most incredible interior designing I have seen. It was almost perfection (I say almost because I am not sure perfectIon exIsts). Everywhere we looked there was something new to see and wow over and perfectly placed. We ate our breakfast each morning surrounded by all this and each morning the breakfast was perfect too. This was not an expensive place to stay at all, $53NZ per night and the room we had was very comfortable (kingsize bed) although basic but there were different styles and types of rooms to suit anyone and theIr budget. In many respects it reminded us of Otahuna Lodge but modern with a nice Thai/European blend as it was designed and built by two French men OlivIer and Antoine. We swam in the two pools regularly, ate and drank well, had our laundry done to perfection too and then decided we needed to see around the outskirts of Pattaya and there was a lot to see and do - so we hired a scooter!!!!!!! (from here on known as the mean machIne). Now everyone who really knows me will appreciate the big step I needed to take to do this. Gary surely knows now as he has permanent bruises around his waistline and permanently stretched tshirts where I hung on for dear life and attempted to steer the bike via the shirt clenched in both hands. He is probably permanently deafened in his right ear now too as I shouted "dog, person on crossing, pothole, bus coming up behind, watch this, watch that" etc etc directly into it from behind. It was funny really because when we finally arrived at our destination he always had his knees crushed against the front of the scooter where I had gradually inched closer and closer towards him from behind in my abject terror. So what did we see and do in the Pattaya countryside for we never went into the city once and that suited us perfectly? We visited the local vineyard and had lunch watching enterprising locals covering windscreens with cloth covers to keep the car interiors cool whilst parked in the carpark and being paid for this service whether It was requested or not (think we may start up a similar business on our return to Nelson as It looked pretty lucratIve); we spent hours at an awesome Chinese museum which was filled with huge bronze statues, had a replica layout of the terracota warrior tombsite and held items that had been gifted from the original warrior tomb along with several of the original warriors; driving through 2 fishing villages was intriguing although very smelly - rumpatty shacks and brightly painted fishing boats lined the water's edge,  all of which were inhabited; we visited Buddha mountain where a gold Buddha-like figure is attached to the side of the mountain surrounded by a moat; 2 beaches were a little harder to find but when we did find them it was well worth it. The sand was grainy and golden brown, the sea perhaps a little cloudy and now and then something would squelch between the toes but in the heat that we were experiencing it was great to throw ourselves in and enjoy. The second beach we came to we started to spread out our towel under the shade of a palm tree when a little man ran out to us firstly with a rattan mat which he spread before us, "free, free" he says. Next came a low table, "free, free too", then 2 headrests/pillows with the same instructions. He then rakes all the beach around us so we have this amazing IdyllIc space all to ourselves and all for free. Later on we buy a bottle of water from him and before we had it open he is there with 2 glasses of ice for "free, free". He was lovely. Later on we decided to buy some food from him to eat at our low table to make up for all the free stuff but unfortunately it was all weird local Thai entrails or something so we swerved on that one and gave him a handsome tip as we left instead.  Next stop were the gardens that everyone was oohing and aarhing over which cover many acres and believe me take a long time on a mean machine to reach. Pulling up at the first gate we look at an advertising brochure which show elephants dressed in pink dresses performing in one of the daily shows and monkeys pushing prams etc performing in another daily show which is, lucky us, all part of the admission price which is expensive. Just want to see the gardens not the degradation of intelligent animals - how much please? No, no can do, all or nothing. Watching 4 huge tour buses pull in behind us we decide on the nothing and head home to the comfort of Baan Pictory. All this was done over a period of 4 days which cost us 200bht ($8NZ) a day to hire the mean machine and $1.60NZ to refill the tank. It was good, I must admit, to don the helmet, feel the warm breeze on our tanned bodies as we whizzed along but..........I was always sooooooo relieved to arrive back home in one piece and throw myself into the pool before that glass of wine accompanied by a plate of excellent Thai fare. Our last night at Baan Pictory saw us propping up the bar tasting all sorts of French drinks and feeling very sad that it was time for us to move on. Suddenly out comes a tray with a circle of woven frangipani flowers on it and it is presented to me. Hand made by the beautiful, gracious lady who prepared all of our food, a local lady not a chef because everything at Baan Pictory is done to make you feel at home. So thank you to Yudh, Oliver, Antoine, Noi and everyone else who made our stay so memorable. We will never forget the time spent with you all. Next morning bright and early we were on our way by taxI to the bus statIon and for our first glimpse of Pattaya proper. Next stop Kanchanaburi.